Providence is set to get a visit next weekend from Wyoming transfer Graham Ike, a 6’9 post scorer who averaged 19.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in the 2021-22 season before missing this past year with a leg injury.
Ike was one of the biggest reasons why Wyoming reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years in 2022, and he had the opportunity to go up against one of the best big men in the country in Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis in the “First Four” matchup.
In the video above, you will see much of the matchup between Ike and Jackson-Davis — the makes, the misses, the turnovers, and other key plays.
Indiana came out on top in this one, 66-58, behind 29 points and nine rebounds from Jackson-Davis, who shot an efficient 10-16 from the floor. The athleticism of Jackson-Davis and Jordan Geronimo were too much for Wyoming to handle at times. Geromino, a small forward with great athleticism in his own right, was seemingly everywhere
Ike finished with 17 points and nine rebounds on 7-14 shooting with five turnovers. Ike overcame a slow start (missing his first five shots and turning the ball over twice) before coming up with an and-1 at the 6:48 mark for his first bucket. He picked up his second foul a minute after that basket, and went into halftime with three points on 1-6 shooting.
The second half was a different story. Ike scored 14 points on 6-8 shooting from the field, finishing hooks over his right shoulder and making a tough fadeaway over his left. Watching Ike felt like a flashback to the ‘90s when big men were fed the ball repeatedly and backed down their defenders with repeated bounces. Indiana coach Mike Woodson seemed content to let Ike go head-to-head with Jackson-Davis and keep his other defenders stuck to Wyoming’s perimeter shooters.
Ike picked up his third foul after an elbow connected following a rebound at the 18:47 mark of the second, but he still managed to be productive following the foul trouble. He was called for a pair of travels in the second half, but held up well physically against one of the best athletes in college basketball in Jackson-Davis.
Extended Highlights: Graham Ike and Trayce Jackson Davis go head-to-head in the NCAA Tournament